McMECHEN — With many residents of McMechen still struggling to recover after suffering thousands of dollars in property damage during July flash flooding, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials visited the community Wednesday to offer assistance in limiting damage in future disasters.

FEMA spokesman Brian Penix spoke before a small gathering of McMechen residents to address the Hazard Mitigation Grant program, which offers funding for projects to limit the damage done to properties in the event of future disasters such as floods and landslides. The full extent of the damage, he said, is often not fully realized until years down the line, and the best way to ensure recovery from a disaster is to limit the ways it can affect residents.

“Its whole purpose is to reduce and eliminate risk,” Penix said of the grant program. “Fifteen percent of (the funding) from any given disaster goes into this program. The problem is, no one knows the cost of the disaster until quite far down the road, so I don’t know how much money I’ll have. Because of that, we always ask property owners — as well as the community as a whole — to participate. There’s funding, not just in this program, but others.”

The land in the floodplain includes parts of Logan Street; Marshall Street between 9th and 13th streets; much of the industrial site south of 12th Street; parts of River Road and others.

The amount of funding available to homeowners varies depending on the procedures undertaken, which range from “acquisition-demolition” — commonly referred to as a buyout — to “demolition-rebuild,” in which a home is demolished and rebuilt to meet modern codes, typically from 2009 or later.

These projects, Penix said, will have a positive impact on flood insurance premiums for the property. Flood insurance coverage becomes mandatory, however, if property owners accept funding through the grant program.

“Throughout West Virginia, we’ve been very successful, in that we’ve come up with more than 1,700 deed-restricted properties across the state,” Penix said. “It says you’ll never build on that lower space ever again. You’ll still own the house. It also says you’ll maintain flood insurance for the life of that particular project. … Flood insurance is simply mitigation on the front end. When we get done doing this mitigation with you, your premiums will go down, because we’ll build you in compliance with the ordinance.”

The acquisition-demolition program, he said, is more common in southern parts of the state. He noted, however, it can wreak havoc on communities if enough residents jump ship.

“The state has really made property acquisition one of the lowest priorities, because it will destroy a community if everyone hops out. … Our priority is to keep communities together, help them along and look 20 years down the road.”

Participation in the mitigation grant program is voluntary, Penix said, adding he wants to dispel the notion that FEMA would acquire land for demolition through eminent domain.

“This is a community’s program. It’s a voluntary program on your part — no one can force you to apply for this. They’re forbidden from using eminent domain and if I hear those words, I’ll cancel the application. Your property is your property.”

Marshall County Deputy Emergency Management Director Mike Mucheck said some streets at the north end of McMechen, such as Second Street, are also known to flood.

“There’s some areas on the map not included on the floodplain that had flooding,” Muchek said. “We can request that FEMA re-evaluate those areas.”

McMechen Mayor Gregg Wolfe said despite the assistance of FEMA, recovery ultimately remains a community effort.

“It’s not all FEMA. There’s a lot of it that’s community-based,” Wolfe said. “That’s the biggest thing, is getting everyone in here, getting thoughts, moving forward. FEMA is here to do what they can, help where they can, but this recovery belongs to McMechen.”